Three children hospitalized with burns in boat explosion on Lake Houston

STEFANIE THOMAS

Published 8:58 am, Friday, June 22, 2012

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Suspects steal liquor, damage course at KCC

Suspects steal liquor, damage course at KCC

Three children hospitalized with burns in boat explosion on Lake Houston

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Houston Police say three children were injured in an explosion during a family boat excursion on Lake Houston near Summerwood around midday Friday, June 22.

According to HPD Lake Patrol Sgt. Billy Ray Wilburn, officers were dispatched to a location about half a mile south of the railroad trestle crossing Lake Houston around 11:30 a.m.

“There were seven people on the boat. They had launched at Deussen Park and where looking for a place to water-ski,” Wilburn said. “But their boat stalled and the engine flooded. When they tried to restart it, the engine of the in-board motor exploded.”

Lake Patrol officers brought the family to shore with Houston Fire Department personnel on standby on land. The three children that were injured range in age from about 10-14, Wilburn said, and all were transported to the burn unit at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.

“One of the teen girls was burned pretty badly,” Wilburn said. “She had burns to her legs, shoulder and forehead.”

Wilburn said the explosion was likely caused by a build-up of fuel vapors around the boat engine.